Page 69 of While He Breathes

“We’re working,” she reminds me.

“You think no one ever fucks on the job?”

“I’m saying we won’t be those people. We need to keep our wits about us.” She rests her hand on my thigh, and I pause my legs from jiggling. “Any word on the team?”

I check my phone before turning my attention back to her. “They’re in place. We’re locked and loaded once we get the signal.”

Ember nods and squeezes my leg nervously.

“Are you sure you want to do this? Because you don’t have to. We can find another way.”

“No,” she whispers. “No, I can do this. It’s the best way to get him to let his guard down.”

“And you’ll be safe,” I remind her. “I’ll always keep you safe.”

“I know.” There’s not an ounce of hesitation in her voice, and I thread my hand into the back of her hair, dragging her to meet me in the middle and crush our lips together.

Her taste bursts to life on my tongue, and I groan, already desperate to fuck her again despite waking her up with my cock this morning.

I tug her back and force her to hold my eye. “I love you, Ember. More than a man like me should be capable of.”

She opens her mouth to respond, but I shake my head. “Don’t say it back yet. I want the first time I hear those words again to be while you’re impaled on my cock.”

She huffs out a laugh. “Of course you do.”

I press one last chaste kiss to her lips and snap back into work mode. If there was ever a time I needed the ruthlessness of the Hunter, it’s right now. Because for the first time, there’s more on the line than just money and power.

Right now, my entire reason for breathing is at stake, and there’s nothing I won’t do to keep her safe.

“You got your earpiece?”

She nods and taps her ear, setting off the one in my ear to confirm it’s working.

“Don’t take any risks. If there’s a chance for us to move in, we will. But if there’s not, Killian will let you know, and you get out of there as quickly as you can, got it?”

“Yes, Orion. I know,” she placates. “I’m the one who came up with the plan. Trust me to follow it to the letter.”

I sigh. “I do trust you, Ember. It’s Lucas I don’t trust.”

“Well, after today, he won’t be a problem anymore.”

So why does it feel like we’re walking straight into a trap?

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

EMBER

This seemed like such a good idea.

Until right now.

There’s something about the plan that feels a lot like a lamb walking to its own slaughter, and as much confidence as I managed to muster when I was talking to Orion, it all falls away the second I get out of the car.

It’s because it feels too easy.

Like all the pieces fell into place with a little too much ease, and I can’t shake that feeling.

I make a point to keep my eyes down, not keeping an eye on my surroundings the way I have been my whole life, because that’s the point.